After eight seasons of a drama, it's pretty difficult to show the two main characters in a different light. And yet, the minds behind CW's long-running series Supernatural did just that, leading the Winchester brothers into a war. But instead of teaming up against demons, angels, Leviathans, Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, they are at war with each other. Sure, in the past, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) have fought a bit — even throwing fists here and there — but in the end they've always been brothers who love each other and are there for one other. And then, in December's midseason finale, we left the Winchesters in the darkest place they have ever been. Here, catch up on all the brotherly and supernatural drama of Season 8 before Supernatural returns tonight with "Torn and Frayed."
Where we left off: The Winchesters have stopped fighting for each other and are now fighting with each other. In December’s midseason finale, we left Sam and Dean in a place that mimiced the Season 7 finale, but in a much darker way: the brothers are separated not by space but by their choices. While we began this season with Dean trapped in Purgatory and Sam living a normal life with a girlfriend and a dog, they were still brothers who cared about each other. Now, they are enemies, both at fault for the war between them. Sam went after Benny, Dean’s vampire friend, and Dean faked a 911 call from Amelia, Sam’s ex. Benny survived, but the hunter Sam sent after him didn’t make it out with his head attached to his body – and Benny’s great-granddaughter Elizabeth saw the whole thing. Sam dropped everything and raced to Amelia, only to find her happy with her ex Don (though she did see Sam, and approached him at a bar later that night). Castiel was brought back from Purgatory by the angels to keep an eye on the Winchesters for an unknown reason – unknown to Castiel as well, since he has no recollection of his meetings with the Naomi, the angel in charge.
Biggest Jaw-Dropper of the fall: Our favorite trio – Sam, Dean, and Castiel – all made choices that drove a wedge in between the dream team. Sam didn’t even try to look for/save Dean from Purgatory, Castiel refused to leave Purgatory with Dean (wanting to atone for his sins of bringing the Leviathans into the world), and Dean trusted Benny, a vampire, over his own brother and exploited Sam’s feelings for Amelia to save Benny. Oh yeah, how could we forget? There’s a way to close the gates of hell forever! Is this the beginning of the end for Supernatural? It does seem like the perfect way to conclude the long-running series, whether that's in a year or four years from now.
Biggest Let-Down of the fall: Amelia turned out to be kind of a snooze. They could have found someone better to play the girl who causes Sam to abandon looking for Dean and Cas, Kevin Tran, and hunting altogether.
Most Improved Character: Kevin Tran. The prophet became a total badass this season, learning to fend for himself after Sam abandoned him. He even withstood torture at the hands of Crowley.
Least Improved Character: Amelia. After the entire first half of the season, there is still nothing to her that justifies Sam quitting hunting and abandoning Dean, Cas, and Kevin.
5 Reasons You Should Keep Watching: 1. The return of Felicia Day as Charlie Bradbury! Our favorite techie/gamer returns in “LARP and the Real Girl” when two LARPers (Live Action Role Playing) turn up dead after playing a game called Moondoor, and Charlie just so happens to be the Queen of Moondoor. Get excited to see Sam and Dean in "tight, tight medieval getups," according to exec producer Jeremy Carver. 2. The return of fan-favorite, self-proclaimed “new Bobby,” hunter Garth! Hollywood.com caught up with Garth’s portrayer, DJ Qualls, at the red carpet premiere of his new FX comedy Legit, and while he couldn’t spill the beans on details of Garth’s return, he was more than happy to confirm it would happen. "Yeah, I can’t really talk about it because they’re super secret on that show," Qualls says. "But yeah, I’m definitely going back. It’s a fun show to do!" 3. The return of King of Hell Crowley in tonight’s episode, “Torn and Frayed.” Crowley has kidnapped Samandiriel – or as Dean likes to call him, heaven’s most adorable angel – in order to find out what makes the angel tick. You can bet the brothers won’t take that lying down. 4. Sam and Dean will finally meet their paternal grandfather, Henry, played by Friday Night Lights' Gil McKinney. But how will that work if he's been dead for a long time? "That episode involves time travel and fills a void that will have great effect on the boys while opening new chapters for the show," says Carver. "And despite what their dad John told them, Grandpa is not a mechanic." Surprise, surpise, more Winchester family secrets! 5. We haven't seen the last of Ty Olsson's Benny, the vampire Dean chose over his own brother. Will he retaliate against Sam? That would definitely put Dean in an even more complicated situation than before.
What we ultimately want to see: While we are loving seeing the brothers in an entirely new situation after 8 seasons, enough is enough: we want a reconciliation. Sam and Dean have never been in such a dark place before, and the road back to brotherly love is a long one... one we definitely want to see.
Supernatural returns with “Torn and Frayed” tonight at 9 PM ET/PT on the CW.
[Photo Credit: Liane Hentscher/The CW]
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
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It took the actions of a violent, vengeful Confederate specter tied to a lucky penny, but the brothers finally opened up to each other and aired their grievances about the past year. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have helped them move past their issues and move forward in any way.
Yes, the Winchesters are still not in a good place, even when we left them in the wake of their victory against the specter at the end of the hour of Supernatural last night. How poetic is it that we still can’t get Sam and Dean to be truly honest with each other without the help of a supernatural spirit or force of some kind? Their lives are so entrenched in the evils of their world that it’s bonkers that Sam thinks he can really leave it all behind and have a normal life. Let’s get right into the story, shall we?
After Sam and Benny's tense handshake last week, I was dying to see how Sam and Dean dealt with the exposure of this secret and how it would affect their brotherly bond. And Supernatural didn’t let me down. Dean was still trying to play his bond with Benny close to the chest, but Sam wasn’t having any of it. Their argument the next morning made Sam’s frustration and lack of understanding extremely palpable, and Dean clearly didn’t want to open up about how much Benny meant to him after their time in Purgatory, especially when Sam’s decision to not look for Dean at all was still pissing him off. These brothers give passive aggressive barbs a whole new meaning.
The boys shelved their issues for the time being to concentrate on a case-of-the-week – since Kevin Tran/the word of God are both still MIA, Dean is continuing to try to impress upon Sam the importance of hunting and helping innocent people who can’t help themselves. And this case led them to the reappearance of fan-favorite Garth, who has become the “new Bobby” for all the hunters out there. He has taken this role seriously, too: his entire attitude has changed, he is extremely competent, and tries to help the brothers talk and actually listen to each other for once. Dean’s incredulous anger at Garth’s attempts to say “Balls!” and “You ijjit” was hilarious and extremely touching. He’s still grieving the loss of his father figure, and his protective attitude towards Bobby’s memory was the sweetest expression of emotion you’ll ever get from Dean Winchester.
Something I found quite compelling about this case-of-the-week baddie: once we found out that the revenge-craving specter was tied to a lucky penny, we actually got an in-depth look at the journey the cursed penny took from victim to victim, showing great detail about how it was passed along each time. I really enjoyed seeing that aspect of the case, as it is not something we normally get to see on Supernatural.
And of course, the one person harboring the most resentment and feelings of betrayal came in contact with the penny: Dean. He pointed his gun at Sam and gave a heartbreaking list of all the times Sam had betrayed him or let him down in the past 8 seasons: never wanting to hunt and join the family business with Dean, drinking demon blood, his unholy alliance with Ruby, spending an entire year out of Hell with Samuel before contacting Dean, his whole not-having-a-soul deal, letting Dean become a vampire that one time (yeah, remember that?), and not even attempting to look for Dean and help get him out of Purgatory. Yes, Dean has lied to Sam in the past, including about Benny, but Dean has never betrayed Sam. The saddest part of all of this was that even though we knew Dean was being controlled by the specter, his words were all 100% true. Even Sam knew it: "What, you didn't mean it? Oh please. You and I both know you didn't need the penny to say those things, own up to your crap, Dean." Dean really felt like Benny was more of a brother to him than Sam is. His biggest insecurity has always been that he doesn’t ever feel like he is needed, and in his eyes Sam proved that to be true when he promptly left the hunting world and played house with Amelia the past year while Dean rotted in Purgatory.
Sam tried his best to explain his side of things: he finally found a sense of normalcy with Amelia. The flashbacks helped us gain a better understanding of how much Amelia helped him and vice versa, but I was eager for more peeks at Dean’s time in Purgatory. Alas, looks like we’ll have to wait until next week for more of that story (including the return of Cas! Squee!). Sam admitted he made a mistake turning off his phone for a year, and that he should have tried looking for Dean, but he truly found happiness and he wasn’t going to apologize for that.
Obviously, Dean didn’t shoot Sam, and Garth helped the brothers defeat the specter, but in terms of the Winchesters’ relationship we didn’t get anywhere last night; in fact, the brothers are the furthest from reconciliation that they've ever been. Sam and Dean aired their dirty laundry but neither of them made any steps toward forgiveness. Dean didn’t accept any part of Sam’s apology, and Sam still doesn’t understand Dean’s friendship with Benny. Sam brought up Amy, the monster Dean brutally killed even though Sam begged him not to since Amy was trying to lead a good life. Sam brought up a good point: what’s the difference between Amy and Benny, and what’s going to stop Benny from acting upon his vampiric urges in the future? Dean said that if Benny acts up, he won’t stop another hunter from doing the right thing. And then Sam a line that chilled me to my bones. "Hear this too: I just might be that hunter that runs into Benny one day and ices him." You could tell right away something shifted in Dean's mind and he was seeing Sam in a whole new way. This was dangerous territory, and Dean sidestepped it with more bottled-in anger, a piercing glare, and a thinly veiled threat: "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it then, won't we?"
Even though the brothers have reunited after a hellish (for Dean) year apart, they've never been so alone.
Supernatural returns Wednesday at 9 ET/PT on The CW.
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Diyah Pera/The CW]
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Fun Size may be the only production from kid-centric studio Nickelodeon to also feature underage drinking (complete with red solo cups) and boob groping. The murky demographic for the movie ends up hurting the well-intentioned Halloween flick — it's not quite suitable for the young ones nor is it funny or wild enough for the Gossip Girl crowd which director Josh Schwartz (creator of the show) knows well. Instead we get a floundering trick or treat adventure that reduces the colorful twisted holiday to a meandering situational comedy.
Nick TV grad Victoria Justice (Victorious) stars as Wren a high school "geek" who finds herself unable to bag the guy of her dreams (who adores her) but finds a glimmer of hope in the big cool kids' Halloween party. Ready for a night out with her best friend April (Jane Levy) Wren thinks life is finally going her way until her Mom (Chelsea Handler) sticks her with her troublemaking little brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) for the night. If chaperoning Albert wasn't already the worst thing in the world Wren finds herself in an even bigger dilemma when her brother wanders off into his own night of mischievous debauchery.
The "one crazy night" formula fits perfectly with Halloween but Fun Size struggles to find interesting material for its eclectic ensemble. Unlike many of the young actresses who have previously collaborated with Schwartz Justice seems unable to crack his voice and comedic style. She's too hip to too aware to play someone struggling with high school. The material doesn't serve her or Levy either; off-color jokes and a bizarre sense of entitlement turn them into two people you don't want to see succeed. Luckily for the audience during their sweeping search for Albert Wren and April cross paths with two true nerd-looking boys: Roosevelt (Thomas Mann) and Peng (Osric Chau) who along with feeling like real teenagers actually land a joke or two.
Interwoven into this speedy adventure — Fun Size clocks in at a little over 75 minutes giving little time to flesh out our teenage heroes — is Albert's encounter with a convenience store clerk named Fuzzy. The adults of Fun Size see the ten-year-old Albert as a parter-in-crime rather than a lost little boy. Fuzzy recruits him for a raid on his ex-girlfriend's house; after running away he meets a lady who brings him to a nightclub. At one point a sleazebag kidnaps Albert and locks him in his bedroom. If Fun Size were madcap it may all make sense. Instead things just happen — and it's not hilarious scary or even deranged.
Nick's '90s sitcom Pete &amp; Pete created an amazing sense of weirdness and heart in its exploits of two teenage brothers. Anyone could watch and enjoy it. Fun Size has a beautiful look (the colors of Halloween are mesmerizing) and Schwartz as always has impeccable soundtrack tastes but when it comes to telling a story that feels both relatable and wonderfully weird — what Pete &amp; Pete did so well — the movie falls flat. It's stereotype humor (the movie packs many a fat and gay joke) doesn't cut it — when paired to Nick's best efforts the movie lives up to the title: a bite-size portion of a bigger better cinematic sweet.

If Clint Eastwood’s make-believe interview with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention didn’t make it clear enough that he is pro-Romney, this new anti-Obama ad sure does.
Aimed at swing states, the ad, which was filmed for superPAC American Crossroads on behalf of Romney at Eastwood's home, features Eastwood lamenting that America has been “knocked down” the last few years. Eastwood's voiceover, set to washed out footage of factories, average Americans, a downtrodden-appearing Obama, and an impassioned Romney, broadcasts, “Obama’s second term would be a rerun of the first, and our country just couldn’t survive that.”
The dramatic kicker, delivered by Eastwood speaking straight to the camera, packs a punch. "There's not much time left and the future of our country is at stake," Eastwood says.
Like most campaign ads airing this close to the election, the commercial focuses on evoking an emotional response rather than relaying information regarding the candidates' platforms that could actually help inform voters.
Check out the grizzly-voiced iconic filmmaker’s ad below:
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Apega/WENN]
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With each outing in his evolving filmmaking career actor-turned-director Ben Affleck has amped up the scope. Gone Baby Gone was a character drama woven into a hard-boiled mystery. The Town saw Affleck dabble in action pulling off bank heists many compared to the expertise of Heat. In Argo the director pulls off his most daring effort melding one part caper comedy and two parts edge-of-your-seat political thriller into an exhilarating theatrical experience.
At the height of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 anti-Shah militants stormed the U.S. embassy and captured 52 American hostages. Six managed to escape the raid finding refuge in the Canadian ambassador's home. Within hours the militants began a search for the missing Americans sifting through shredded paperwork for even the smallest bit of evidence. Under pressure by the ticking clock the CIA worked quickly to formulate a plan to covertly rescue the six embassy workers. Despite a lengthy list of possibilities only Tony Mendez (Affleck) had a plan just enticing enough to unsuspecting Iranian officials to work: the CIA would fake a Hollywood movie shoot.
There's nothing in Argo or Affleck's portrayal of Mendez that would tell you the technical operations officer has the imagination to conjure his master plan — Affleck perhaps to differentiate himself from the past plays his character with so much restraint he looks dead in the eyes — but when the Hollywood hijinks swing into full motion so does Argo. Mendez hooks up with Planet of the Apes makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) to convince all of Hollywood that their sci-fi blockbuster "Argo " is readying for production. With enough promotional material concept art and press coverage Mendez and his team can convince the Iranian government they're a legit operation. A location scout in Tehran will be their method of extracting the bunkered down escapees.
Without an interesting lead to draw us in Affleck lets his eclectic ensemble do the heavy lifting. For the most part it works. Argo is basically two movies — Goodman and Arkin lead the Ocean's 11-esque half and Affleck takes the reigns when its time to get the six — another who's who of character actors including Tate Donovan Clea Duvall Scoot McNairy and Rory Cochrane — through the terrifying security of the Iranian airport. Arkin steals the show as a fast talking Hollywood type complete with year-winning catchphrase ("ArGo f**k yourself!) while McNairy adds a little more humanity to the spy mission when his character butts heads with Mendez. The split lessens the impact of each section but the tension in the escape is so high so taut that there's never a moment to check out.
Reality is on Affleck's side his camera floating through crowds of protestors and the streets of Tehran — a warscape where anything can happen. Each angle he chooses heightens the terror which starts to close in on the covert escape as they drift further and further from their homebase. Argo is a complete package with the '70s production design knowing when to play goofy (the fake movie's wild sci-fi designs) and when to remind us that problems took eight more steps to fix then they do today. Alexandre Desplat's score finds balance in haunting melodies and energetic pulses.
Part of Argo's charm is just how unreal the entire operation really was. To see the men and women involved go through with a plan they know could result in death. It's a suspenseful adventure and while there's not much in the way of character to cling to the visceral experience tends to be enough.
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It was the trickle of pee heard around the world. Cannes attendees were aghast and/or amused an infamous scene from The Paperboy that shows Nicole Kidman urinating on Zac Efron; this is apparently a great salve for jellyfish burns which were covering our Ken Doll-like protagonist. (In fact the term protagonist should be used very loosely for Efron's character Jack who is mostly acted upon than active throughout.)
Lurid! Sexy! Perverse! Trashy! Whether or not it's actually effective is overshadowed by all the hubbub that's attached itself to the movie for better or worse. In fact the movie is all of these things — but that's actually not a compliment. What could have become somethingmemorable is jaw-droppingly bad (when it's not hilarious). Director Lee Daniels uses a few different visual styles throughout from a stark black and white palette for a crime scene recreation at the beginning to a '70s porno aesthetic that oscillates between psychedelic and straight-up sweaty with an emphasis on Efron's tighty-whiteys. This only enhances the sloppiness of the script which uses lines like narrator/housekeeper/nanny Anita's (Macy Gray) "You ain't tired enough to be retired " to conjure up the down-home wisdom of the South. Despite Gray's musical talents she is not a good choice for a narrator or an actor for that matter. In a way — insofar as they're perhaps the only female characters given a chunk of screen time — her foil is Charlotte Bless Nicole Kidman's character. Anita is the mother figure who wears as we see in an early scene control-top pantyhose whereas Charlotte is all clam diggers and Barbie doll make-up. Or as Anita puts it "an oversexed Barbie doll."
The slapdash plot is that Jack's older brother Ward (Matthew McConaughey) comes back to town with his colleague Yardley (David Oyelowo) to investigate the case of a death row criminal named Hillary Van Wetter. Yardley is black and British which seems to confuse many of the people he meets in this backwoods town. Hillary (John Cusack) hidden under a mop of greasy black hair) is a slack-jawed yokel who could care less if he's going to be killed for a crime he might or might not have committed. He is way more interested in his bride-to-be Charlotte who has fallen in love with him through letters — this is her thing apparently writing letters and falling in love with inmates — and has rushed to help Ward and Yardley free her man. In the meantime we're subjected to at least one simulated sex scene that will haunt your dreams forever. Besides Hillary's shortcomings as a character that could rustle up any sort of empathy the case itself is so boring it begs the question why a respected journalist would be interested enough to pursue it.
The rest of the movie is filled with longing an attempt to place any the story in some sort of social context via class and race even more Zac Efron's underwear sexual violence alligator innards swamp people in comically ramshackle homes and a glimpse of one glistening McConaughey 'tock. Harmony Korine called and he wants his Gummo back.
It's probably tantalizing for this cast to take on "serious" "edgy" work by an Oscar-nominated director. Cusack ditched his boombox blasting "In Your Eyes" long ago and Efron's been trying to shed his squeaky clean image for so long that he finally dropped a condom on the red carpet for The Lorax so we'd know he's not smooth like a Ken doll despite how he was filmed by Daniels. On the other hand Nicole Kidman has been making interesting and varied career choices for years so it's confounding why she'd be interested in a one-dimensional character like Charlotte. McConaughey's on a roll and like the rest of the cast he's got plenty of interesting projects worth watching so this probably won't slow him down. Even Daniels is already shooting a new film The Butler as we can see from Oprah's dazzling Instagram feed. It's as if they all want to put The Paperboy behind them as soon as possible. It's hard to blame them.

The names have been chosen, and the odds were ever in the favor of 11 actors who round out the rest of the cast of the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire. Joining the ranks of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland, these names were released by Lionsgate in one big fell swoop, quite the opposite of how they oh-so-slowly announced new additions such as Sam Claflin as heartthrob Finnick O’Dair and Jena Malone as lethal Johanna Mason over the past few months.
The new cast members (listed in full below) make up the rest of the (SPOILER ALERT) tributes who previously won their respective Hunger Games and will now be forced to compete again. This all-star version is for the Quarter Quell, the 75th anniversary of the Capitol’s defeat over the rebelling Districts and the resulting annual battle-to-the-death competition.
Catching Fire has already started shooting in Georgia this month, before moving to Hawaii to shoot the tropical arena in which the bloody competition takes place. The film will hit theaters next Thanksgiving.
The rest of the tributes:
James Logan: Tribute from District 5
Ivette Li-Sanchez: Tribute from District 5
Justin Hix: Tribute from District 6
Megan Hayes: Tribute from District 6
Bobby Jordan: Blight from District 7
John Casino: Woof from District 8
Elena Sanchez: Cecelia from District 8
Daniel Bernhardt: Tribute from District 9
Marian Greene: Tribute from District 9
Jackson Spidell: Tribute from District 10
Tiffany Waxler: Tribute from District 10
[Photo Credit: Lionsgate]
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With the cool autumnal breezes rolling in, so too are Hollywood's biggest, award-hopeful films. Regardless of whether or not it is actually fall quite yet, the little kiddies are back at school, pumpkin spice is being added to everything, and there are only a few days left until staring wistfully at your sweater and scarf collection becomes a summer memory, and wearing becomes the reality. So to prepare us all for the glorious days of movie-watching ahead of us, we've broken it all down for you. So start saving your pennies, coordinate schedules with your film buff buddies and take a bite out of the tasty cinematic offerings that are ripe for the picking. It's like an apple orchard, but glitzier!
Check out the line-up below and get more picks tailored to your tastes in our Fall Movie Guide!
September
September 14
Finding Nemo 3D: A re-release of the popular Pixar film, this time in 3D!
Resident Evil: Retribution: The fighting against the Umbrella Corporation and all those pesky undead continues!
10 Years: A high school reunion with Channing Tatum and Friends.
Arbitrage: Hedge-funder in trouble: a ponzi scheme gone awry. Bernie Madoff-y, huh? The horror, the horror!
Bangkok Revenge: An emotionless war machine returns to the place where his parents were killed to exact ... (you guessed it!) revenge.
Brawler: Brothers! Betrayal! Fight clubs! New Orleans! A battle to the death!
Step Up to the Plate: A cooking documentary about father/son culinary duo the Bras.
Liberal Arts: Lost 30something, a girl named Zibby, and love. But in college.
The Master: The hotly-anticipated Scientology-but-not film from P.T. Anderson.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Stephen Chbosky's classic young adult novel comes to life.
Stolen: A Nicholas Cage film about a daughter locked in a taxi's trunk.
The Trouble with the Truth: A failed marriage reconsidered, now with Lea Thompson!
September 19
Radio Unnameable: Documentary about legendary New York City disc jockey Bob Fass who pioneered free expression on the airwaves with his long running program of the same name.
Tears of Gaza: A war documentary that follows three children through war and the period after ceasefire.
September 21
Dredd: An action/sci-fi/thriller about fighting a drug war in a big futuristic city. In 3D!
End of Watch: A routine traffic stop gone really, really bad.
House at the End of the Street: Katniss Jennifer Lawrence becomes a scream queen.
17 Girls: A Belgian teen pregnancy pact film!
About Cherry: James Franco is the boyfriend of a porn star, and Dev Patel probably loves her?
Backwards: Life for an Olympic hasbeen-turned-coach is tough.
The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best: Brooklyn boys form a band.
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel: A documentary about the life and work of the influential fashion editor of Harpers Bazaar, Diana Vreeland.
The Other Son: A French film about two young men--an Israeli and Palestinian--who discover they were accidentally switched at birth.
Head Games: A sports documentary to uncover the truth about the consequences of head injuries.
How to Survive a Plague: AIDS documentary about the activism that stopped the disease from being a death sentence.
My Uncle Rafael: A comedy about a reality show!
The War of the Buttons: A French film about kid gangs and a Jewish girl in danger of being discovered by the Nazis in occupied France, comes to the states.
Trouble with the Curve: Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake make a baseball movie! Now get off my damn lawn.
Unconditional: Two childhood friends reconnect after many years and sad stories to exact revenge on the woman's husband's murderer.
You May Not Kiss the Bride: A pet photographer (seriously) has to marry Katharine McPhee's Croatian bride character. Warning: zany!
September 28
Hotel Transylvania: Adam Sandler is Dracula in an animated kids' film.
Looper: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis play one guy who has to kill himself, from the future. Mob stuff! Time travel!
The Barrens: The Jersey Devil of the state's Pine Barrens is hunting Stephen Moyer, you guys!
Bringing Up Bobby: Bill Pullman is in a family comedy written by Famke Janssen.
Won't Back Down: A serious drama about poor moms trying to do right by their kid's education.
The Other Dream Team: A documentary about the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team who got help from the Grateful Dead (seriously) to win at the Barcelona Olympics.
Starbuck: A sperm donor gets sued by the 142 kids he helped conceive. Yikes!
October
October 5
Butter: A comedy about a butter-carving prodigy. Do you need to know anything else?
Frankenweenie: A kid who just wants his dead dog to be...ALIIIIIIVE!
Sinister: Creepy horror flick with Ethan Hawke about a true-crime novelist who discovers footage revealing why a family was murdered in his new home. Sleep tight!
Taken 2: Liam Neeson will find you, and he will hunt you down, and he will kill you. Again!
Wuthering Heights: Another film version of the Emily Bronte novel.
Decoding Deepak: A documentary about Deepak Chopra by his son.
The Oranges: Hugh Laurie has an affair with his best friend's daughter in New Jersey. Woopsies!
The Paperboy: Yes, this is the movie where Zac Efron gets peed on by Nicole Kidman. It's also about a reporter and a death row inmate.
Pitch Perfect: A capella girls get funky thanks to singing 90s R&amp;B tunes. But funny!
V/H/S: All they wanted to do was steal a video tape, and now they're living a horror film! Everyone's worst nightmare, right?
Wake in Fright: An Australian drama thriller about a man named John Grant and a rough outback town called Bundanyabba, and what happens when the two meet.
October 12
Argo: Ben Affleck knows that the real way to free six Americans in Iran is by pretending to film a movie! Chris Messina's also in it, with Bryan Cranston, so it seems like a no-brainer here.
Here Comes the Boom: Kevin James is a high school biology teacher who wants to become mixed-martial arts fighter. You know, to save his school! Natch.
3, 2, 1... Frankie Go Boom: A comedy about drugs and humilation.
Atlas Shrugged: Part II: Atlas Shrugged...again!
Least Among Saints: A roughed-up soldier and a boy from a broken home strike up an unlikely friendship.
Middle of Nowhere: A movie about finding yourself while your husband's in jail.
Nobody Walks: Quick! Lena Dunham made something! It's about a young artist! Everybody dissect it!
Seven Psychopaths: Pretty much everybody good is in this movie about a struggling screenwriter whose friends kidnap a gangster's Shih Tzu.
Simon &amp; The Oaks: A Swedish WWII coming-of-age film.
Smashed: A marriage built on booze struggles when the wife gets sober.
Stories We Tell: A Sarah Polley documentary about looking back at familial events.
October 19
Paranormal Activity 4: Some mean ghosts do some f**ked up scary s**t to a new family. This time it involves the neighbors!
Alex Cross: A detective vows to track down the killer of his family.
The First Time: A romcom about high school kids. And probably doing it.
Killing Them Softly: Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta in a mob film. Is there anything else you need to know?
That's What She Said: New York City lady misadventures that are NOT about Michael Scott, apparently.
Yogawoman: A documentary about...yoga! The title's so misleading, isn't it?
October 26
The Big Wedding: Oh look! Katherine Heigl's in another movie about a wedding. This time with Diane Keaton and Robert DeNiro.
Fun Size: A big Halloween party! A baby who must be watched! Johnny Knoxville. Somebody call the shenanigans police!
Chasing Mavericks: A surfer movie with Gerard Butler. Hang ten, etc.
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D: Gory alternate reality. In 3D!
Citadel: An agoraphobic dad and renegade priest team up to save his daughter from a gang of feral kids. So...not about a military school in South Carolina then.
Cloud Atlas: The three hour epic with every actor ever in the world telling intertwined stories across millennia.
The Loneliest Planet: A backpacking film with Gael Garcia Bernal in the wilds of Georgia (not the state).
Sleep Tight: A Spanish horror film about how safe you really are at home. Yep, sleep tight indeed.
The Sessions: The heartwarming story of a man on an iron lung who just wants to get laid ... with the help of his priest and a sex therapist.
October 31
On The Road: That Jack Kerouac novel-turned-movie with Kristen Stewart
November
November 2
Flight: Robert Zemeckis directs Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Don Cheadle in a film about a plane crash.
The Man with the Iron Firsts: Eli Roth and RZA make a really bloody movie about a blacksmith in China.
Wreck-It Ralph: A video arcade game baddie just wants to be good, you guys!
This Must Be the Place: Sean Penn does his best Robert Smith impression while trying to hunt down a Nazi.
High Ground: A documentary about the emotional journey of a team of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans as they climb a mountain in the Himalayas.
Jack and Diane: A girl's awakened sexual desire for another girl makes her maybe become a werewolf. Seriously.
A Late Quartet: A famous string quartet gets too big for their britches to the point of potential self-destruction. Oh, and Christopher Walken's in it.
November 9
Lincoln: One of the many Abraham Lincoln movies being made, this time with Daniel Day-Lewis and no slaying of vampires.
Skyfall: The next installment of Daniel Craig's James Bond empire.
Nature Calls: A hijacked boy scout trip to remember? Sounds super-wacky!
November 16
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2: This needs no description. C'mon.
Anna Karenina: Because Keira Knightley cannot go three months without making an epic period piece. This time based on the Tolstoy novel.
Rust and Bone: A Belgian film with Marion Cotillard that involves a killer whale accident and a love story.
November 21
Rise of the Guardians: A children's animated film about Jack Frost and saving the kids of the world from an evil spirit named Pitch.
Red Dawn: A remake of the 1984 film about a group of teenagers saving their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers.
Life of Pi: Based on the best-selling novel is the story of a boy named Pi and his shipwrecked companions. Mainly a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger.
Silver Linings Playbook: A feel-good holiday drama about two messed up people teaming up to make good.
Follow Alicia on Twitter @alicialutes
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This is it. Way back in May, the day after American Idol ended, when we first met all of these hopefuls, we knew it would come down to this night: The Season 9 performance finale.
And here we are, with four left standing – Cyrus, Chehon, Eliana and Tiffany – and for once, they’re dancing for your votes. Live. This week’s performance correlates directly to next week’s results, for the first time all season.
No pressure or anything. But something told me these four were up for it, especially after the way they all gave it everything last week. They all danced like they really, really wanted it, and at this point, it’s anyone’s game.
Next week’s finale-finale will reveal two winners – a girl and a guy – who will hold the title of America’s Favorite Dancer(s) for the next nine or so months until the cycle begins again.
Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel for the performance finale was Rob Marshall (I was hoping for a Ben Millepied repeat, but alas, no dice). First up was an interesting spectacle: Cyrus doing the paso doble. With Eliana. Oh, boy. I was actually thinking earlier this week about the fact that Cyrus hasn’t really been given any challenging styles this season, so the producers really pulled out all the stops for Tuesday’s show.
Both Cyrus and Eliana were clad in red and black, and Cyrus was supposed to be dressed like a matador, but he really just looked like he was wearing a tube dress that he couldn’t pull up all the way. As usual, Eliana was excellent and she carried her partner by attracting all of the attention to herself, thereby masking the fact that Cyrus didn’t really have to do anything except lift her, spin her and wave his arms every once in a while.
At one point mid-routine, he actually attempted some kind of weird cartwheel that truly looked like that scene in Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey is getting ready to fight the cook at the restaurant.
Nigel told Eliana she has a magical combination of performance and technique. Instead of critiquing Cyrus, Nigel chose to remind all of us that Cyrus didn’t ever believe he could become a part of this show, that he could make it into the finale, that he could ever escape his apartment with 400 roommates, etc. Blah, blah, blah. Mary actually one-upped Nigel by using the word “conquered” to describe what Cyrus did to the paso doble.
Tiffany has been making huge strides over the last few weeks, but could she continue it in the finale? Hopefully. Her first performance of the night, with all-star Will’s help, once again showed off all of her strengths, of which she has many: Her lines are so clean, her extension is always so perfect (pay attention, Cyrus), and she has the ideal combination of technical skill and character. Plus, she’s so, so versatile—not that Eliana isn’t, but I’m always so impressed with how perfect Tiffany is, no matter what style they saddle her with.
Mary told Tiffany that she is the epitome of a fabulous dancer and a great partner. Rob complimented Sonya for her choreography. Nigel said Tiffany’s lines and stage presence were so strong that they hid the fact that she’s so tiny.
After a quick break, Eliana got right back onstage—this time, with Chehon, for a ballet number. Could there be anything more perfect for these two? What a great partnership. They’re both such excellent classical dancers that even before this started, you knew it was going to be one of the best performances of the season.
It really was magical: There was Nutcracker choreography, and there was a pink tutu for Eliana and a white baptism costume for Chehon, and there was one spectacular lift in the middle of the routine that was so perfectly timed to the track that the entire audience burst out into cheers. It was like the ending of Black Swan times a million. If the producers let Chehon dance like this all season (kind of how they let Cyrus do hip-hop all season), he’d be a shoo-in for the victory. Maybe this will get him there.
Obviously, this got a standing ovation from the panel. Rob couldn’t believe Chehon’s versatility, and he said Eliana’s extension was breathtaking. Nigel also raved about the difficulty level of this routine and said that Chehon made the lifts look easy. Mary said that Chehon and Eliana are a triumph for the show.
Next, it was time for Tiffany and Cyrus to pair up. Would Tiffany be able to mask Cyrus’ shortcomings as expertly as Eliana? Would he bring her down? No, they’d be just fine because they got a lyrical hip-hop routine. Of course they did. There could be nothing better suited to Cyrus, but I guess I can’t complain because Chehon got a wheelhouse routine, too.
The story was about a young couple that breaks up and makes up once a week (how creative!). Cyrus was okay, but once again, what really amazed me about this number was how seamlessly Tiffany shifted from the paso doble to hip-hop—and how perfect she was in both routines. She really outshined Cyrus, which is difficult to do in a hip-hop routine; she really is so natural and has so much rhythm, whereas Cyrus seemed a bit behind the beat, and his “acting” was a little garish.
Nigel began by congratulating both Tiffany and Cyrus for avoiding the bottom three for the entirety of the competition. Yay. Then, he gave Cyrus credit for being able to memorize the choreography. That’s kind of like giving an Idol contestant props for remembering the words, no? Mary said they both killed it, and that Cyrus continues to get stronger and stronger every week (‘kay). Rob said both Cyrus and Tiffany had abandon, which he loved, and their routine was his favorite of the night.
Eliana’s final solo of the competition was up next, and of course, it was classical because that is where she excels. But it didn’t disappoint. Like Tiffany, Eliana has the ability to be so delicate in a routine like this, and yet she becomes a completely different person in a hip-hop routine, or in a jazz routine, or in a Broadway routine. And plus, she has to be one of the most likeable contestants in the history of this show.
For his all-star routine, Chehon paired up with Allison for a contemporary number about a guy who lets go of his girl because he wants her to pursue her dreams. These concepts are just so groundbreaking. But all corniness aside, this was once again an excellent routine for Chehon (and one that required him to have a completely unbuttoned shirt, naturally).
These choreographers are so, so good at creating these classical routines that really allow Chehon to show off. He’s such a strong partner, but he’s also so technically impressive on his own. He did a one-handed lift in this routine. Hello. He can do so much that Cyrus cannot that it would be such a robbery if he lost.
Also, just for the record, the acting in this routine was excellent. That’s not always Chehon’s strong suit, but on Tuesday, he brought it. Like Tiffany, it’s so easy to see how much he’s grown throughout his competition, and he deserves mad props for that.
Mary said Chehon was loose and free throughout the number, maybe for the first time all season. Rob was impressed with the height Chehon managed to get, and he told Allison she was “fierce.” Nigel spent a little too much time lauding the praise on Allison’s acting skills, but he did add that Chehon came alive in this partnership. He said that in the past, Chehon has had a hard time showing emotion; I choose to blame that on his robot of a partner who got sent home last week.
Next up, it was time for Tiff and Eliana to do a Broadway burlesque number. I love it when the ladies dance together! I miss this. One of my favorite performances from this whole season was from the first top 20 show, when Tiffany and Audrey did a contemporary number together.
These two ladies are so great. They have so much personality, and when they dance together, they really just set the place on fire. The routine and the track were so perfect for them, too – “When You’re Good to Mama” from Chicago – and it really made me wish they didn’t save stuff like this for the finale.
It also made very eager to see what was in store for us when Chehon and Cyrus paired up.
Before that, though, it was time for Cyrus’ solo. I love watching him dance, but each week, it doesn’t seem like we see anything new from him. I feel like I’ve seen him do the same exact solo for four or five straight weeks—and it’s a great solo, because I love animation and I love hip-hop, but reality shows like this favor contestants who truly grow throughout the competition. At least, they’re supposed to.
But in the alternate universe of So You Think You Can Dance, this solo got a standing ovation. Naturally.
Tiffany’s solo was just as good as Eliana’s (and the track was “I Believe” by Fantasia! Holler). It really is going to be such a tough call between these two ladies. Once again, it was fascinating to see Tiffany go from the paso doble to grungy hip hop to classical, and she was so fluid and so natural in each. This one even had just enough of a Disney princess vibe to give me chills.
Next, Chehon and Cyrus performed a warrior routine about the challenges they’ve conquered in their SYTYCD journey. Sonya was the perfect choreographer for this. She forced Cyrus to step his game up so that he didn’t look like a fool dancing next to Chehon.
And somehow, against all odds, he didn’t look like a fool. Sonya had them doing lifts with each other, and karate-kicking each other, and throwing each other across the floor … It was intense. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t totally obvious that Chehon is much more capable and versatile than Cyrus – there were several little solo moments for Chehon, during which Cyrus pretty much just stood there and, like, crouched – but the fact that this wasn’t a train wreck kind of amazed me. So, props to Sonya for that.
Nigel, too, credited Sonya with helping the guys up the ante. He then rambled on for about 90 seconds about how much of an inspiration Cyrus is and called him his favorite person on this show and somehow avoided talking about his dancing at all. Nigel then told Chehon that he was his favorite dancer of the night. Not that it matters.
Mary commended the guys for fighting as hard as they could along this journey, and Rob complimented their camaraderie and selflessness with each other.
Chehon wore a shirt for his final solo, which began with him reading a letter, throwing it to the ground and then pacing backwards in slow motion. He’s so good. He’s not quite as versatile as either of the ladies – he still struggles with Latin styles and, naturally, with hip hop – but I find his technical skills so impressive that it doesn’t necessarily bother me that he can be a bit limited.
Eliana’s fifth and final routine with all-star Alex Wong was choreographed by Travis, and as expected, it was one of the toughest of the night. There was a lot of movement, a lot of lifts, a lot of choreography that required absolutely perfect lines and perfect extension. And to nobody’s surprise, Eliana saved her best for last. She was so assertive when she needed to be, and yet when the choreography called for Alex to literally drag her around the stage, she immediately switched modes. She makes something so difficult look so, so easy.
Rob told Eliana there’s nothing she can’t do and that the routine was poetry. Nigel said it was unquestionably his favorite routine of the night, and then he dropped a huge bomb by telling Eliana she is his favorite dancer ever, in the history of this show. I think he may have just solidified the win for her. Mary said Eliana’s feet and ankles were extraordinary and that she oozes passion.
For her personal finale, Tiffany teamed up with Chehon for a rumba. “It has to be so hot, the audience has to be uncomfortable,” the choreographer told us. This would be interesting for Chehon, who has been notoriously incapable of connecting with his partners in the past.
I just adore Tiffany. She’s so graceful and she, like Eliana, really does make everything look so easy. Chehon was good, too, but he was more of Tiffany’s partner in this routine than a competitor. He did prove his worth, though, with one spectacular lift mid-routine –he really is such a good partner – and while I wouldn’t say that the chemistry between these two was off the charts, I thought they were very sweet.
Mary said that Chehon has struggled with the Latin styles, but not with the rumba—this allowed him to be masculine and controlling. She did, however, say that the chemistry wasn’t really all there. Rob actually did feel that there was a connection between these two, which he found “sexy.” Nigel said that he was glad the accounting department finally found room in the budget to buy a shirt for Chehon, but unfortunately, they still didn’t have sufficient funds for buttons.
So. Just in case the producers weren’t being clear enough with their favoritism. Guess which all-star Cyrus got to perform with for his final number? Twitch. Guess which style they performed? Animation.
Seriously.
(Oh, and by the way, he always, always, always gets to perform near or at the end of the show.)
Of course, this routine was going to be spectacular. How could it not be? People have been saying Cyrus is this show’s next Twitch since Week 1, and watching them perform together was special. Christopher Scott choreographed the show’s FIRST EVER ANIMATION ROUTINE (as Cat reminded us no fewer than 400 times), about two guys who have been genetically altered and are experiencing their new bodies for the first time. I have to give him snaps for creativity; this was a new one.
This really was one of the best routines of the entire season. Cyrus excels at this (if only at this), and it was so cool to watch he and Twitch perform together, so perfectly in sync with each other. They were like robots. If you haven’t YouTubed it yet, do yourself a favor. This routine probably won Cyrus the competition. And if the routine didn’t, he and Twitch concluded the number with an adorably ecstatic man hug.
Once the applause died down – which honestly took about two minutes – Rob told Twitch and Cyrus they are two superstars. Mary could barely speak but managed to say that they stole the show. Nigel told them they are both “world class.”
And then things got weird.
Nigel said he loves Cyrus and has supported him all season, but that he wouldn’t be voting for him on Tuesday. The entire audience definitely thought it was a joke. Everyone thought Nigel was going to follow that up that statement with something Cowell-esque along the lines of, “… I’m going to vote for you a MILLION times tonight!” But instead, he embarked on a rambling explanation for why he would choose to support Chehon instead. He was serious.
To be totally honest, I wondered if this was a ploy to get sympathy votes for Cyrus. It was that bizarre.
I cannot even describe to you the death glare Cyrus gave him during this diatribe. Suffice to say, it was amazing.
And on that very odd note, whom are you voting for? Is Nigel right—does Chehon deserve it more because he’s allegedly worked longer and harder for it (or something)? Which lady will take the crown?
Hope you voted!
[Image Credit: FOX]
More: So You Think You Can Dance Recap: Finally, the Contestants Dance to Win! So You Think You Can Dance Recap: Judges’ Pet Lives to See Another Day So You Think You Can Dance Recap: Mia Michaels Redux

There's an allure to imperfection. With his latest drama Lawless director John Hillcoat taps directly into the side of human nature that draws us to it. Hillcoat finds it in Prohibition history a time when the regulations of alcohol consumption were subverted by most of the population; He finds it in the rural landscapes of Virginia: dingy raw and mesmerizing. And most importantly he finds it in his main character Jack Bondurant (Shia LaBeouf) the scrappy third brother of a moonshining family who is desperate to prove his worth. Jack forcefully injects himself into the family business only to discover there's an underbelly to the underbelly. Lawless is a beautiful film that's violent as hell striking in a way only unfiltered Americana could be.
Acting as the driver for his two outlaw brothers Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) isn't enough for Jack. He's enticed by the power of the gangster figure and entranced by what moonshine money can buy. So like any fledgling entrepreneur Jack takes matters into his own hands. Recruiting crippled family friend/distillery mastermind Cricket (Dane DeHaan) the young whippersnapper sets out to brew his own batch sell it to top dog Floyd Banner and make the family rich. The plan works — but it puts the Bondurant boys in over their heads with a new threat: the corrupt law enforcers of Chicago.
Unlike many stories of crime life Lawless isn't about escalation. The movie drifts back and forth leisurely popping in moments like the beats of a great TV episode. One second the Bondurants could be talking shop with their female shopkeep Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain). The next Forrest is beating the bloody pulp out of a cop blackmailing their operation. The plot isn't thick; Hillcoat and screenwriter Nick Cave preferring to bask in the landscapes the quiet moments the haunting terror that comes with a life on the other side of the tracks. A feature film doesn't offer enough time for Lawless to build — it recalls cinema-level TV currently playing on outlets like HBO and AMC that have truly spoiled us — but what the duo accomplish is engrossing.
Accompanying the glowing visuals and Cave's knockout workout on the music side (a toe-tapping mix of spirituals bluegrass and the writer/musician's spine-tingling violin) are muted performances from some of Hollywood's rising stars. Despite LaBeouf's off-screen antics he lights up Lawless and nails the in-deep whippersnapper. His playful relationship with a local religious girl (Mia Wasikowska) solidifies him as a leading man but like everything in the movie you want more. Tom Hardy is one of the few performers who can "uurrr" and "mmmnerm" his way through a scene and come out on top. His greatest sparring partner isn't a hulking thug but Chastain who brings out the heart of the impenetrable beast. The real gem of Lawless is Guy Pearce as the Bondurant trio's biggest threat. Shaved eyebrows pristine city clothes and a temper like a rabid wolverine Pearce's Charlie Rakes is the most frightening villain of 2012. He viciously chews up every moment he's on screen. That's even before he starts drawing blood.
Lawless is the perfect movie for the late August haze — not quite the Oscary prestige picture or the summertime shoot-'em-up. It's drama that has its moonshine and swigs it too. Just don't drink too much.
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